Stanford nurses enter contract negotiations with Stanford Health Care, children’s hospital

Jan. 29, 2025, 11:45 p.m.

The union that represents over 6,000 nurses working at Stanford Health Care (SHC), Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and satellite healthcare facilities in the Bay Area began contract negotiations with SHC and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health on Jan. 14.

Representatives from the Committee for the Recognition of Nursing Achievement (CRONA) will meet with SHC and Stanford Children’s three times a week until an agreement is reached before the union’s current contract expires on March 31. CRONA’s bargaining team is composed of five nurses — each from SHC and Stanford Children’s — CRONA President Colleen Borges and the CRONA Vice Presidents of SHC and Stanford Children’s.

SHC Senior Director of External Communications Courtney Lodato wrote that SHC & Stanford Children’s look forward to working together with the union “to reach agreements our nurses will be proud of and support” in a statement to The Daily. 

Almost 5,000 nurses in CRONA went on strike in April 2022 to negotiate for better pay, increased staffing and more expansive mental health support. The strike, which was authorized by 93% of nurses in the union, lasted one week and was successful in achieving better standards of worker treatment, according to SHC and CRONA representatives. 

“After extensive discussions, we were able to reach a contract that reflects our shared priorities and enhances existing benefits supporting our nurses’ health, well-being and ongoing professional development,” SHC spokesperson Lisa Kim wrote in a 2022 statement to The Daily.

This year’s negotiations follow a $10 million settlement paid by SHC in a recent class action lawsuit filed by over 100 nurses. The suit alleged that SHC failed to ensure that nurses consistently received timely meal periods, pay meal premiums at a regular rate and accurate wage statements.

According to a press release published by CRONA this week, the union hopes to retain a robust membership amid a nationwide nursing shortage. Nurses at Stanford hospitals often specialize in treating critically ill patients, including those undergoing heart and lung surgery and adult and pediatric cancer treatment.

“We [SHC and Stanford Children’s] are a world class institution,” Borges said in an interview with The Daily. “These hospitals and our nurses are world-class. We go in [to negotiations] with the intent to raise nursing as a profession, and if we can do that here at Stanford we know that that will filter through the rest of hospital negotiations, not only in the Bay Area but throughout the country.”

Goals for the negotiations include “global buckets,” or broad issue areas brought forward by nurses, such as safe patient staffing and other proposals that protect nurses’ well being, Borges said. One objective is securing assurances that artificial intelligence (AI) will not encroach on bedside nurses’ decision-making capacities. 

“It’s important we address the sustainability of nursing,” Borges said. “Coming off the pandemic, there was a shift in nursing in general, and we want to ensure our members feel that they have been heard and are feeling that they can continue their careers here at Stanford.”

Currently, negotiations center on CRONA’s non-economic proposals such as schedule flexibility for nurses regarding day and night shifts and policies to preserve work-life balance through weekend breaks, Borges said. 

“We understand how important our contracts are to our nurses, and we pledge to bargain in good faith in partnership with the union to reach agreements that ensure we continue delivering safe, high-quality patient care and reinforce our commitment to supporting nurses and the nursing profession,” Lodato wrote.

Sofia Williams is a news writer for The Daily. Contact news 'at' stanforddaily.com.

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